Fitzwilliam String Quartet - Bruckner: Quintet & Quartet - American Record Guide

Bruckner's Quintet, written around the time of the Fifth Symphony, is his only mature chamber work; the Quartet, while a pleasant piece, is early and reveals little of the greatness of his later music. More to the point should be our acknowledgement that once Bruckner hit his stride and found his calling in symphonic writing he relegated other genres like chamber music to the back burner.

The Quintet has a very nice slow movement, but neither it nor the other movements rise to the level of the great symphonies. By odd contrast I found much to enjoy in the usually maligned quartet-in particular a nice vigorous Rondo as the last movement.

The program is filled out with a nine minute Intermezzo that Bruckner wrote as an alternative to the Scherzo in the Quintet; it is an interesting, charming movement that stands well on its own.